Good luck in trying all this out. I guess it must end up in some finished quilts, if you practice long enough

Thank you for your replies. I am now armed with so many great ideas. I have the gloves that you talk about, the non-slip rubber matting, some very dense pieces of foam, some weighted discs (from my drafting days, long ago) and I am also going to try a cut down computer mouse pad. So, if I can't find something that works for me, I should give up quilting!!!!!!
Actually, I have so many pieces to quilt........................why do I put this part off? Are we all the same..................that is, is the joy in finding the right pattern, fabrics and then getting the top pieced?
I do have one genuine disadvantage though..................it is 41 degrees C here in Western Australia today. That is 105.8 degrees F!!!!!!
Oh, roll on winter!

One thing that I can highly recommend is buying a good chair. I have recently bought the Horn gas lift chair and the comfort for sewing is outstanding. I can sew for much longer without any aches and pains. Worth every cent.

Happy sewing to all.
Heather

I finally watched Paul RIed's videos this evening while finishing up the "G" block for the BOM. I was looking at Paula Reid and then dug through my shelf...there she was... same video! I met her at a quilt shop in California and bought her DVD at the time. She gives a lot of great information. At the time I think I was using those rubber finger tip things that office people use. (Just googled them--Swingline Rubber FIngertips) Those were given to me in a machine quilting class by Jan Wildman. they got dried out and bit the dust a few years back. Since then I have changed to machingers and have done well with them.

Lorna

I have been using Quilting mice for years. They have points that hold the fabric so your fingers are relaxed and don't require anything to be placed on your hands. You can find them here:

http://www.painfreequilting.com/products.html

I've tried the halo, tried all kinds of gloves incl. machingers. What I hate about most gloves is that I can't thread the needle very well and have to take them off. I bought a nice pair of tightly fitting riding gloves, and they work very well. But my all time favorite are the finger tops cut off regular kitchen gloves that are a size too small for me. Two or three per hand works fine. I can thread the needle and all other tadks easily, have even discovered I'm still wearing them a few times when I ran into the shops quickly before they closed on a Saturday afternoon... I generally use the slightly more expensive, latex free gloves, but not always

I have tried gardening gloves of all sorts and found they just didn't grip enough. I use Machingers now and have never looked back. I think that there is nothing else like them. I don't find my hands get too hot in them (but then it never gets too hot here anyway) and I love the grip they give. I don't liked the idea of the halo because I know that I would end up constantly banging my sewing foot into it, even if it does have a good grip.

I use Machingers and Batt Scooters....both I like very much...I used most of the other things mentioned
here, but have settled on these two depending on the quilt circumstances !!

I have two things I use. One is a pair of gardening gloves that were very inexpensive and are light weight and breathable. The other is "Quacker Glides" that I bought at a quilt show from PennywinkleValleyRanch.com. At the time I bought the glides they were $14.95 for the two. I don't use these two things together. I find the glides work well when I am working on areas that I need a bit more control.

Don't laugh but I'm so loving my gloves pictured below. They are football, receiver gloves and are insanely wonderful. I've tried nearly everything and these work the best for me. I learned about them in a class that I took from Jerry Granata. I purchased them at a local discount store call Big Lots for $10. I wish I'd bought more just so I would have an extra. I ended up having to get youth size large because my hands were too small for the adult small.

And check out the cool bones!!!

P.S. They do not make your hands hot at all. I really love these.

That was an early DVD. Paula has developed her own called Batt Scooters. I have a pair and use them quite easily.
Here is her site. http://www.battsintheattic.com

I have the Machingers also, but in spite of what people are telling you, my hands get so hot that I can't stand it. I had trouble with handling the thread and scissors with them on. I cut the anti slips sown to fit my hand or a bit smaller.

If you are going to try cutting the fingers off of rubber gloves (a Sue Nickels suggestion), she says you should get a pair of gloves that are a size smaller than you normally wear so the finger tips stay on. I've only tried that in her class, so didn't try long enough to see if that works for me. I normally wear machingers, too.

Nancy

I was a sucker for the Quilt Halo from Sharon Schamber. I found it more trouble than it's worth. I found little bits of shelf liner got stitched to the bottom of the quilt (having lost track of one piece and cut another). I've tried cutting off the ends of expensive rubber gloves like a guest on TQS suggested. Those didn't stay on. I tried the finger grippers from the office supply store. Those didn't stay on. I think I've tried every suggestion I've seen for the past 20 years.

Gloves, that's what work for me, and not Fons and Porter, not Joann's knock-offs, not gardening gloves, but real Machingers. I've worn the grip off one pair and half off the 2nd pair, but they last a really long time. They get filthy from the fabric, but can be washed. Worth every cent.

Of course, it's all on what works for us...

Heather, I believe that Alex uses a product similar if not the same. I use gardening gloves. the ones with little rubber dimples on the palm and fingers. Much cheaper than all the fancy quilting gloves sold and just as effective I believe.